Mikhail Lermontov: society is a hostage of state policy in education
The second Moscow Festival of the cultures of the peoples of the Caucasus
took place today at Moscow's Izmailovo Concert Hall.
The festival was dedicated to wedding ceremonies in the Caucasus. It was
noted by the press service that at the festival, in light of the
sensational stories about the "Lezghin wedding" shootings in Moscow, the
audience was invited to plunge into the world of the true traditions
of Caucasian ethnic groups.
The festival is also an exhibition of folk art of the Caucasus. The
event aims to bring together different nationalities and fight
xenophobia through cultural enrichment.
In an interview with VK, the first advisor to the Minister of Culture,
member of the Presidium of the Russian Congress of Peoples of the
Caucasus Mikhail Lermontov, said that culture is always a unifying
element. "It is in culture that we find a common language, we find
a comfortable relationship that cannot be destroyed by negative
provocations. When people talk today about ethnic issues, it is a
provokation. There are no ethnic problems in Russia. We have problems
of interests. Interests of those who want to make ethnic relations
the cause of conflict. Everyone lives in his own culture, everyone
is a nationalist in some way. He loves his people. A nationalist is
someone who loves his family and his culture. We must respect this
love for the people of every ethnic group. But at the same time, we
understand that it is culture and variety of cultures that gives us
unity and the values of our civilization. And hardly anyone can now
destroy this integrity of our civilization," Mikhail Lermontov said.
However, the advisor to the Minister noted that the problem of
provoking ethnic conflicts exists. In his view, society is a
hostage of public policy in the field of education: "Its main goal is
to prepare a consumer, an effective manager, but not a person
involved in their culture. That is, as soon as our education has
ceased to be engaged in the formation of a Man (with capital letter),
we immediately faced a problem, because people develop consumer
interests instead of spiritual and moral values."
